1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a housing for a dental implant. In particular, the housing is assembled into one piece and can be rotatably opened for a user to access the dental implant accommodated therein.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
In dentistry, artificial teeth, tooth caps or bridges are conventionally used to repair teeth or consolidate intertooth structures. However, this may impose on the healthy adjacent teeth. For example, to provide adequate space for receiving an artificial tooth, a tooth cap or a tooth bridge, the adjacent healthy teeth need to be cut and ground to be smaller to act as a stable support.
With the advancement of science and technologies, dental implantation technology has also been developed. Specifically, a dental implant is directly disposed into an alveolar bone to completely replace the damaged tooth. Since the dental implantation requires no additional devices and support from adjacent teeth, it is less likely to damage adjacent natural teeth and may prevent atrophy of the alveolar bone and the gum, thus maintaining the long-term health and functions of the oral cavity. Some conventional dental implants are made into screws, and are rotatably fastened into the alveolar bone during surgery. The intention is for the dental implant and the alveolar bone to be closely connected in a mechanical way at the very start of the integration to facilitate the growth of osseous tissue on the dental implant.
The dental implantation process proceeds roughly in two stages. In the first stage, a hole is drilled in the alveolar bone and a dental implant is placed therein. The gum is temporarily sutured until the osseointegration period is completed and the newly grown osseous tissue has been closely integrated with the dental implant. During the second stage, the gum is reopened to fix an abutment onto the dental implant. Obviously, to avoid being polluted, the dental implant should be well preserved and is untouchable before it is implanted into the alveolar bone.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional bottle-like housing 10 for accommodating the dental implant 19 is illustrated. The housing 10 comprises a body 11, a lid 13 and a frame 15. The frame 15 is utilized to hold an end of the dental implant 19 and both of the frame 15 and the dental implant 19 can be placed into the body 11 from the opening thereof. The lid 13 is utilized to be fastened onto and sealed with the body 11 at the opening. When the dentist performs the surgery, he or she has to remove the lid 13, and then take out the frame 15 without any direct touch with the dental implant 19, especially the screw portion which is going to be fastened into the alveolar. Obviously, the conventional housing 10 comprises at least three components being assembled for accommodating the dental implant 19 and is not user friendly.
In view of this, it is highly desirable in the art to provide a novel housing for accommodating the dental implant.